The Glorious Uncertainty of Pakistan

Seldom, does a team evoke so many different emotions and reactions from its fans, critiques, analysts and cricket pundits. Unbeatable on their day, mesmerising the opposition and haplessly poor on the other, collapsing like 9 pins - that is the beautiful and unpredictable nature of the Pakistan cricket team! It is this 'unpredictable nature' that they have used to their advantage in the newest format of the game.

They have the best record in T20Is history in terms of matches won (38 wins in 64 matches) and are only marginally second to South Africa in the win-loss ratio (1.58 as compared to South Africa's 1.68). When extending the above to World T20 encounters, they still have the maximum wins (16 out of 26 matches) along with Sri Lanka and are second only to them in the win-loss ratio (1.77 as compared to 2.28).

Pakistan has been the most dominant team in World T20 history having made it to the semi-finals stage on all 4 occasions since the tournament's inception in 2007. They lost to India in the final of the inaugural tournament and were the champions in the next edition in England beating Sri-Lanka in the final. They made the semis

What makes Pakistan such a destructive and consistently dominating team in T20 internationals?

Inherent Nature of their cricket

Team

Mat

Won

Lost

Tied

NR

W/L

Batting Av

RPO Scored

Bowling Av

RPO Conceded

Pakistan

64

38

24

2

0

1.58

21.81

7.37

18.44

7.03

South Africa

52

32

19

0

1

1.68

25.03

7.89

21.3

7.52

Australia

58

30

25

2

1

1.2

24.75

8.15

21.17

7.61

Sri Lanka

47

28

18

1

0

1.55

23.25

7.75

20.14

7.34

England

53

27

23

0

3

1.17

23.8

7.84

22.22

7.6

New Zealand

58

26

27

5

0

0.96

22.14

7.76

22.7

7.82

India

41

22

17

1

1

1.29

26.96

7.95

23.37

7.82

West Indies

44

18

22

3

1

0.81

22.05

7.71

23.23

7.83

Pakistan's maverick nature and style suits the shortest format of the game. It is the raw nature and the natural gifted ability of Pakistan and their cricket that helps them achieve success in this format.

The shorter span of T20 cricket encourages them to go all-out and gives them the liberty to take risks and play - this makes them believe in their gifted abilities, spurs them on and brings out the best in them. Pakistan have won 11 of the 25 T20Is series they have taken part in. A fascinating statistic which can be seen from the above table is that despite Pakistan's fantastic record in T20Is, the batting average (total number of runs scored/ total no. of wickets lost) at 21.81 is the lowest amongst the 8 prominent cricketing nations. Even more alarming is the fact that the average runs per over scored is again the least at 7.37!

Then how is Pakistan so successful in this format? The answer lies in their bowling. Their bowlers only concede 18.44 runs per wicket which is a staggering statistic and well lower than the next best average of 20.14 of the Sri Lankans. Also, their bowlers are very shrewd and not easy to get away. They only concede 7.03 runs per over, the least amongst all teams in the table.

The explosive All-Rounders

Player

Span

Mat

Runs

SR

Bat Av

Wkts

BBI

Econ.

Bowl Av

Bowling SR

Shahid Afridi

2006-2012

56

831

142.29

16.95

62

41010

6.22

21.16

20.4

Shoaib Malik

2006-2012

50

813

108.4

22.58

16

40946

6.71

21.43

18.7

Mohammad Hafeez

2006-2012

40

811

109.29

21.34

32

41009

6.86

22.71

20.3

Abdul Razzaq

2006-2012

30

383

119.68

22.52

20

40981

6.86

19.05

16.6

Pakistan has always been blessed with explosive all-rounders who could change the complexion of a match with the bat or the ball in a matter of minutes. Abdul Razzaq is regarded as one of the most fearsome hitters lower down the order who can clear the ropes with sheer brutal power and has turned many a matches for Pakistan in a span of 3-4 overs.

Shahid Afridi continues to be an enigma even in the twilight of his international career. His batting has dipped to a pathetic low but it is Afridi the bowler who has tormented opposition batsmen lately with his fast, wristy leg-spinners and arms-balls. He has won matches for his team single-handedly with the ball.

Teams are still wary of his ability and batting prowess as he is still well capable of producing that blitzkrieg which can annihilate the very best of the bowlers. He was the man of the series in the 2007 edition and the player of the match in the final of Pakistan's victorious campaign in 2009.

The calming nature and personality of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik adds the perfect balance to the eccentricity of Razzaq and Afridi. Hafeez, who opens the innings and now captains the side, often gets Pakistan to a good start, maintains a good strike-rate and yet places a price on his wicket. He plays ideal foil when needed to the likes of Imran Nazir and Nasir Jamshed but also has all the shots to increase the tempo when required.

Malik brings stability to the batting and is the perfect batsman at No.6, someone who can drop anchor and keep the scoreboard ticking in case of a collapse and at the same time explode if and when required.

An astonishing fact which can be seen in the above table is that the 4 all-rounders have economy rates of under 7 runs per over which is an excellent statistic for T20Is. Razzaq and Malik also have very impressive bowling strike rates which suggest that they are partnership breakers and can be trusted to pick up crucial wickets at important moments in the match.

The gifted batsmen

Player

Span

Mat

Inns

NO

Runs

HS

Ave

SR

50

4s

6s

Kamran Akmal

2006-2012

47

42

6

842

73

23.38

124.37

5

81

27

Umar Akmal

2009-2012

40

37

7

839

64

27.96

117.5

4

65

22

Shahid Afridi

2006-2012

56

53

4

831

54*

16.95

142.29

4

69

31

Shoaib Malik

2006-2012

50

46

10

813

57

22.58

108.4

2

68

14

Mohammad Hafeez

2006-2012

40

38

0

811

71

21.34

109.29

2

93

16

Misbah-ul-Haq

2007-2012

39

34

13

788

87*

37.52

110.2

3

45

26

Salman Butt

2007-2010

24

23

2

595

74

28.33

107.98

3

66

10

Imran Nazir

2007-2012

25

24

1

500

72

21.73

135.13

3

59

22

Younis Khan

2006-2010

25

23

3

442

51

22.1

121.42

2

31

12

Abdul Razzaq

2006-2012

30

27

10

383

46*

22.52

119.68

0

20

21

Nasir Jamshed

2012-2012

9

9

1

220

56

27.5

122.9

2

16

9

Pakistan has always produced naturally gifted stroke-makers. They have an ideal balance of power hitters and accumulators. The ballistic Imran Nazir is well supported by the gritty Mohammad Hafeez. In Nasir Jamshed and Umar Akmal, they have two of the finest young talents in the world. Kamran Akmal has been their most prolific batsman in the format. Afridi and Razzaq add firepower lower down the order while Shoaib Malik plays the dual role of accumulator and aggressor to perfection.

Quality and Variety in Bowling

Spinners

Player

Span

Mat

Inns

Overs

Runs

Wkts

BBI

Ave

Econ

SR

Saeed Ajmal

2009-2012

48

47

178

1092

69

4/19

15.82

6.13

15.4

Shahid Afridi

2006-2012

56

56

210.5

1312

62

4/11

21.16

6.22

20.4

Mohammad Hafeez

2006-2012

40

36

108.2

727

32

4/10

22.71

6.71

20.3

Shoaib Malik

2006-2012

50

23

50

343

16

2/7

21.43

6.86

18.7

Abdur Rehman

2007-2011

7

7

25

174

11

2/7

15.81

6.96

13.6

Fawad Alam

2007-2010

24

6

15

95

8

3/7

11.87

6.33

11.2

Raza Hasan

2012-2012

7

7

26

154

6

2/14

25.66

5.92

26

Pacers

Player

Span

Mat

Inns

Overs

Runs

Wkts

BBI

Ave

Econ

SR

Umar Gul

2007-2012

49

49

165.4

1153

62

5/6

18.59

6.95

16

Mohammad Amir

2009-2010

18

18

65

457

23

3/23

19.86

7.03

16.9

Abdul Razzaq

2006-2012

30

21

55.3

381

20

3/13

19.05

6.86

16.6

Shoaib Akhtar

2006-2010

15

15

53

432

19

3/38

22.73

8.15

16.7

Yasir Arafat

2007-2012

13

13

39.2

316

16

3/18

19.75

8.03

14.7

Mohammad Asif

2006-2010

11

11

42.5

343

13

4/18

26.38

8

19.7

Saeed Ajmal leads a quartet of highly skilful and talented spinners with the likes of Raza Hasan, Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez are all capable of winning matches single-handedly on their day. Ajmal is the leading wicket-taker in the world in the format. He picks up his wickets at an astounding average of 15.82 and has an equally brilliant strike rate of 15.4. He bowls a very disciplined line and length, keeping the batsmen on a tight leash giving away just 6.13 runs per over. The greatness of the Pakistani spinners lies in the fact that all of them are attacking spinners who look to take wickets. They stifle the opposition in the middle overs and bamboozle the very best with their skill, guile and craft. Recently, in a T20 WC Super Eights match against Australia, Mohammad Hafeez, the captain, only introduced pace in the 18th over of the innings. 18 of the 20 overs were bowled by the tweakers.

In Umar Gul, they have one of the finest fast bowlers in the world and someone who is exceptionally good in the death overs. Sohail Tanvir with his deceptive action is quite a handful on his day.

It is not surprising to see then that Ajmal, Afridi and Gul are the top 3 leading wicket takers in T20Is history.

Partnerships

Partners

Span

Inns

NO

Runs

High

Ave

100

50

Kamran Akmal, Salman Butt

2007-2010

14

0

491

142

35.07

1

2

Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik

2007-2012

11

3

430

119*

53.75

1

3

Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal

2009-2012

15

1

387

66

27.64

0

2

Imran Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez

2007-2012

12

0

385

124

32.08

1

1

Individual brilliance in a team sport can only lead you so far - to a spectacular victory or two. But to be consistent, batsmen have to bat well with each other, rotate the strike, understand each other's game-plan and complement each other.

Among the 20 best partnership pairs in T20Is history (in terms of number of runs scored), there are 4 from Pakistan, 4 from Sri Lanka, 3 from New Zealand, 2 each from Australia, South Africa, England and Ireland and 1 from India.

So it is not surprising that there would be days like in Christchurch in 2010 when Abdul Razzaq annihilated the New Zealand bowlers and then along with Afridi ripped through their batting order and skittled them out for 80, winning by a whopping margin of 103 runs and then there would be days when the same Pakistani team would be cleaned up for a paltry 74, their lowest T20I score, against Australia in Dubai just prior to the T20 WC. There would be the disappointment of the hammering against India in Colombo, the agony, pain and the million broken Pakistani hearts when Misbah scooped one to Sreesanth off Joginder Sharma in the final of the inaugural T20 WC in Johannesburg in 2007 and at the other extreme the ecstasy and the euphoria when Shahid Afridi played a cameo against Sri Lanka at Lord's in the final of the 2009 edition to lift the trophy for Pakistan. They will make you angry, they'll disappoint, they'll stop a thousand heartbeats, they'll thrill and they'll conquer. This was, is and will remain the glorious uncertainty of Pakistan!